Random thoughts and musings from an MSer living in a very pleasant patch of planet in Wales fondly known as Planet Paradise. A sequel to my book 'Stumbling Along - a Journey with The Master of Surprises' (c) Eiona Roberts 2006. Slightly in a different vein, though.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Station

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We recently spent some time away, including a week in Hampshire with our good friends, Jan & Alan Coupe of Wisteria House, Stubbington . One of our days out that week was a trip on the Watercress Line from Alresford to Alton. When we got home and I started looking at my photos, it reminded me of this below the picture.....

'The Station' by Robert Hastings

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see
ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train.
Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of
children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of
smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of
flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and
village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a
certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Bands will be
playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams willcome
true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw
puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering -
waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we
cry. "When I'm 18." "When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!"
"When I put the last kid through college." "When I have paid off
the mortgage!" "When I get a promotion." "When I reach the
age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one
place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The
station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.